REL Test3 Terms

adaptability (in Paul)

fundamental and exemplary accommodation to people as and where he finds them.

apocalypticism

A worldview held by many ancient Jews and Christians that maintained that the present age is controlled by forces of evil, but that these will be destroyed at the end of time when God intervenes in history to bring in his Kingdom, an event thought to be imminent.

atonement

The doctrine that indicates how a person who is condemned by sin can be placed in a right standing before God by means of a sacrifice. In traditional Christian teaching, it is Christ’s death that brings atonement.

circumcision

a sign of the covenant between God and the Jewish people

Deutero-Pauline Epistles

The letters of Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians, which have a “secondary” (“deutero-”) standing in the Pauline Corpus because scholars debate whether they were written by Paul.

diatribe

A rhetorical device used by Greek and Latin authors, including the apostle Paul, in which an imaginary opponent raises objections to one’s views only to be answered successfully, so as to move an argument forward (e.g., Paul uses the diatribe in his letter to the Romans).

Epistle

Another designation for a private letter. Some scholars have differentiated between “epistles” as literary writings in the form of a letter—which were meant for general distribution, rather than for an individual recipient—and “letters,” which were a nonliterary form of personal correspondence. This differentiation between epistles and letters is not widely held today, however, so the terms tend to be used synonymously.

faith (in Paul)

a wholehearted trust and reliance on God through Jesus Christ, leading to a transformed life and obedience

“firstfruits of the resurrection”

A phrase used by the apostle Paul to refer to Jesus as the first one to be raised from the dead. It is an agricultural image referring to the celebration held at the end of the first day of the harvest, in anticipation of going out to bring in the rest of the crops (the next day). If Jesus is the “firstfruits,” then the rest of the resurrection (i.e., everyone else’s resurrection) will happen very soon.

flesh (in Paul)

earthly perspective

“Fool’s Speech”

Paul, while acknowledging his own "foolishness" in boasting, defends his apostleship by contrasting his own sufferings and weaknesses with the false apostles' worldly boasting and power, showcasing his true focus on Christ's strength.

Gamaliel

A First Century Jewish Rabbi and Leader in the Jewish Sanhedrin. Had a profound effect on the early church

Gentile

A Jewish designation for a non-Jew.

House Churches

Private homes where Christian communities gathered for fellowship, worship, the celebration of rituals (e.g., baptism and the Eucharist), and instruction. For centuries, Christian communities did not meet in buildings specially built to function as churches. Instead, like many other Greco-Roman associations, Christians met in private homes.

insula

Ancient apartment buildings in which the ground floor was used for shops and businesses and the upper floors for residences. The apostle Paul evidently set up his (leather goods?) business and stayed in insula in the various towns where he evangelized.

Judaizer

A Christian who insists that followers of Jesus need to keep (all or parts of) the Jewish Law to have a right standing before God (a view held, e.g., by Paul’s opponents in Galatia).

judicial model

One of the two principal ways that Paul understood or conceptualized the relationship between Christ’s death and salvation. According to this model, salvation is comparable to a legal decision in which God, who is both lawmaker and judge, treats humans as “not guilty” for committing acts of transgression (sins) against his Law—even though they are guilty—because Jesus’ death has been accepted as a payment

justification by faith

The doctrine found in Paul’s letters (see Judicial Model) that a person is “made right” (justified) with God by trusting in the effects of Christ’s death rather than by doing the works prescribed by the Jewish Law.

participationist model

One of the two principal ways that Paul understood or conceptualized the relationship between Christ’s death and salvation. This model understood sin to be a cosmic force that enslaved people; salvation (liberation from bondage) came by participating in Christ’s death through baptism

Parousia

A Greek word meaning “presence” or “coming,” used as a technical term to refer to the second coming of Jesus in judgment at the end of time.

Pauline Corpus

All of the letters of the New Testament that claim to be written by Paul, including the Deutero-Pauline and Pastoral epistles.

resurrection

The doctrine originally devised within circles of apocalyptic Judaism that maintained that at the end of the present age, those who had died would be brought back to life to face judgment: either torment for those opposed to God or reward for those who sided with God. The earliest Christians believed that Jesus had been raised and concluded therefore that the end of the age had already begun

rhetoric

The use of language for effective communication, especially the biblical literary techniques used to communicate God's Word.

sin (in Paul)

failure to live according to God's standard, leading to separation from God and spiritual death. 

superapostle

In 2 Corinthians, a group of Paul’s opponents who were rhetorically proficient and able to do spectacular deeds and who claimed that their remarkable abilities demonstrated that they, rather than Paul, were the true representatives of Christ.

Torah

A Hebrew word that means “guidance” or “direction” but that is usually translated as “Law.” As a technical term, it designates either the Law of God given to Moses or the first five books of the Jewish Bible that Moses was traditionally thought to have written—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Undisputed Pauline Epistle

Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon—letters that scholars overwhelmingly judge to have been written by Paul.